Normal forms, invariant manifolds and Lyapunov theorems

Abstract

We present an approach to Lyapunov theorems about a center for germs of analytic vector fields based on the Poincaré–Dulac and Birkhoff normal forms. Besides new proofs of three Lyapunov theorems, we prove their generalization: if the Poincaré–Dulac normal form indicates the existence of a family of periodic solutions, then such a family really exists. We also present new proofs of Weinstein and Moser theorems about lower bounds for the number of families of periodic solutions; here, besides the normal forms, some topological tools are used, i.e., the Poincaré–Hopf formula and the Lusternik–Schnirelmann category on weighted projective spaces.